Muddy Hole Studios About Jim

About Jim

   ...........While performing in original pop music bands in the Washington/Baltimore/Annapolis area during the 60’s and 70’s, Jim Smith gradually gravitated toward the technical and recording side of the business. He started his pro audio career with large venue sound reinforcement gigs in 1971-2 under the tutelage of Dave Smith (no relation), the pioneering audio design engineer from Baltimore who was instrumental in the early development of Maryland Sound Industries.

            After playing his last bar gig in 1979, Jim put together a small sound company, built a recording studio and worked for tape duplication and sound installation companies. Pursuing his long love for jazz, he also began mixing a long series of live-to-air jazz broadcasts as a volunteer for a public radio station in Washington. This brought him into contact with a vital and talented group of recording engineers from NPR who were also there as volunteers, and led eventually to his employment at NPR in 1983.

...........NPR in the early 80’s was a cutting edge leader in audio technology, news/documentary production and live music recording, and proved to be a profound learning environment for Jim. During the seven years that he was there, Jim worked for nearly all of the shows and production units, as well as the transmission and distribution facility. This period coincided with the beginning of the digital revolution in audio, and he was lucky enough to engineer the first two all-digital production features for NPR’s “All Things Considered”, marking his early and continued commitment to digital technology. NPR was also the spawning ground for what has become his nearly two decades long relationship with The Capitol Steps political satire group.

---------.After spending over a year in management, Jim left NPR in 1990 to expand on his recording and production business. He built the Muddy Hole Studios remote recording truck and put it on the road, recording CDs and broadcasting in all of the musical genres. He also ventured into early PC-based DAWs for post-production, and embraced the modular digital multi track format and digital mixer formats as they became viable. An offer to prep the sound effects track for a TV documentary in 1994 led to an increasing involvement with post production and sound-for-picture, and paved the way for his next stint at honest employment.

---------In 1997, Jim was recruited to work as EIC (Engineer-In-Charge) for BET’s new, high-end digital video and audio production truck. After helping finalize its design and construction, he oversaw its operation for several years, acting as technical manager for hundreds of concert, news and entertainment productions.

-------The Jazz Channel, BET’s jazz arm, began producing concert DVDs with Image Entertainment in 2000. As this process developed, Jim was offered an opportunity to leave BET and act as project manager and/or surround mixer for the final stages of these DVD productions. DVD projects and surround mixing were added to the eclectic mix of Muddy Hole Studios’ work, and continue to occupy a significant amount of Jim’s time today.

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About Jim
...........While performing in original pop music bands in the Washington/Baltimore/Annapolis area during the 60’s and 70’s, Jim Smith gradually gravitated toward the technical and recording side of the business. He started his pro audio career with large venue sound reinforcement gigs in 1971-2 under the tutelage of Dave Smith (no relation), the pioneering audio design engineer from Baltimore who was instrumental in the early development of Maryland Sound Industries.
After playing his last bar gig in 1979, Jim put together a small sound company, built a recording studio and worked for tape duplication and sound installation companies. Pursuing his long love for jazz, he also began mixing a long series of live-to-air jazz broadcasts as a volunteer for a public radio station in Washington. This brought him into contact with a vital and talented group of recording engineers from NPR who were also there as volunteers, and led eventually to his employment at NPR in 1983.
...........NPR in the early 80’s was a cutting edge leader in audio technology, news/documentary production and live music recording, and proved to be a profound learning environment for Jim. During the seven years that he was there, Jim worked for nearly all of the shows and production units, as well as the transmission and distribution facility. This period coincided with the beginning of the digital revolution in audio, and he was lucky enough to engineer the first two all-digital production features for NPR’s “All Things Considered”, marking his early and continued commitment to digital technology. NPR was also the spawning ground for what has become his nearly two decades long relationship with The Capitol Steps political satire group.
---------.After spending over a year in management, Jim left NPR in 1990 to expand on his recording and production business. He built the Muddy Hole Studios remote recording truck and put it on the road, recording CDs and broadcasting in all of the musical genres. He also ventured into early PC-based DAWs for post-production, and embraced the modular digital multi track format and digital mixer formats as they became viable. An offer to prep the sound effects track for a TV documentary in 1994 led to an increasing involvement with post production and sound-for-picture, and paved the way for his next stint at honest employment.
---------In 1997, Jim was recruited to work as EIC (Engineer-In-Charge) for BET’s new, high-end digital video and audio production truck. After helping finalize its design and construction, he oversaw its operation for several years, acting as technical manager for hundreds of concert, news and entertainment productions.
-------The Jazz Channel, BET’s jazz arm, began producing concert DVDs with Image Entertainment in 2000. As this process developed, Jim was offered an opportunity to leave BET and act as project manager and/or surround mixer for the final stages of these DVD productions. DVD projects and surround mixing were added to the eclectic mix of Muddy Hole Studios’ work, and continue to occupy a significant amount of Jim’s time today.
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